Okay to keep leaves in pot all day?

I just got a nice little yixing pot and have been doing multiple infusions over the course of a day. Is it okay to just keep the leaves in the pot all day and come back to it from time to time?

Is there some risk of bacteria growing in between, or the leaves going bad? For gongfu steeping I get the impression that people usually sit down and do the infusions during one session, so that's why I ask.

If a tea is good enough I have had week long sessions. The breathability of a yixing also helps with this. I don't think you have anything to worry about. But I will also drink tea that's been sitting around for fifty years (when I can get my hands on it)

No problem. Your ambient temperature and humidity may make a difference. The kind of tea will definitely make a difference. Some shu's sure get suspect quickly. And some nicely aged sheng will last for weeks!

Leaving green oolong (Taiwan, Anxi) in a porous Yixing in warm weather will definitely leave a sour smell stuck in your pot. Don't leave the pot without water on the leaves. If this happens to you, soak the pot for a day in water and as much baking soda as you can dissolve.

I think safety-wise, you're probably Ok. I have definitely even left certain teas overnight (without brewing in-between) and brewed them the next day. But you're definitely leaving tea in the "danger zone", so it depends on how safety-conscious you are. Depending on your environment, if you leave it long enough without brewing, you will definitely eventually get mold growth.

What I've been told is that certain teas can handle this and others can't (no one has ever told me any rule of thumb, though). But taste-wise, at least, I think greener, fresher teas don't usually react quite as well to this treatment. I tend to save this treatment for old / rare teas.

Yes. It's not worth it for inexpensive teas, whites, greens, green oolongs. I've come back to the office after a long meeting hoping to get another few infusions out of one of those, and it's rarely worth it. The dark roast oolongs and puerhs are quite different that way.

Is okay, but good is make one washing infusion when you go back (which not drink). And also I saw somewhere people put small piece of bamboo to the spout of zisha pot, air not go inside and tea not change too quickly. If is zisha material good , can keep to next day sure. Just wash the leaves before start drink again~~

Some teas are best on their second day in the first brew. In my previous post, I mentioned my experience with Phoenix DC and it's propensity to "reenergize" day to day.

Another tea that has yielded it's best is YS,LLC's "Silver Needles" white tea. I have regularly drunk this tea over four days. No mold has ever formed. The brews become quite nice and caramelly on day two and three. Given the weak initial brews, I would have never expected this robust flavor.

wyardley wrote:I think safety-wise, you're probably Ok. I have definitely even left certain teas overnight (without brewing in-between) and brewed them the next day. But you're definitely leaving tea in the "danger zone", so it depends on how safety-conscious you are. Depending on your environment, if you leave it long enough without brewing, you will definitely eventually get mold growth.

What I've been told is that certain teas can handle this and others can't (no one has ever told me any rule of thumb, though). But taste-wise, at least, I think greener, fresher teas don't usually react quite as well to this treatment. I tend to save this treatment for old / rare teas.

wyardley wrote:I think safety-wise, you're probably Ok. I have definitely even left certain teas overnight (without brewing in-between) and brewed them the next day. But you're definitely leaving tea in the "danger zone", so it depends on how safety-conscious you are. Depending on your environment, if you leave it long enough without brewing, you will definitely eventually get mold growth.

What I've been told is that certain teas can handle this and others can't (no one has ever told me any rule of thumb, though). But taste-wise, at least, I think greener, fresher teas don't usually react quite as well to this treatment. I tend to save this treatment for old / rare teas.

You are cracking me up with that avatar!

+1

rdl wrote:

chrl42 wrote:It's no good. Once the leaves are touched by water, its microbes are slowly increasing. You could let it during a day, but not too long.

I think it was a online tea news, that the Chinese like to bring plastic container with teabag or leaves in it whenever they go, but this way can cause a carcinogen to be active if steeped too long.

chrl42i always appreciate your intelligent, informative posts. i would like to ask if you mean the danger is due to the tea steeping too long, or is it the plastic container reacting to the tea?

The article was about a danger of steeping too long, in West people are used to teabags while in China they are to loose leaf in this case.